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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Links to Your World, November 4

Ian McKellen, the openly gay actor most famous for his role as Gandalf in the LOTR films, says every time he stays in a hotel he takes the Bible from the nightstand and tears out the page condemning homosexuality in Leviticus 18:22. (World magazine, linking to Details magazine.) Apparently he leaves the New Testament passages on the same subject intact….


A wonderful story about a Planned Parenthood director who leaves the abortion business, citing a change of heart.


“The exceptional moments of life aren’t a test of a man’s mettle, the question is, how does he handle the ordinary moments? A man’s worth and character is revealed in his attitude and commitment toward common, ordinary, everyday things. Not when he’s on stage or in the limelight, but in the often lonely grind time. And the truth is there are many more mundane moments in leadership than there are mountaintops.” (The Glory of the Grind)


You mean, I could be paid by the government for visiting the hospital and praying for people? Hmm…. “As the health care battle moved forward last week, Phil Davis, a senior Christian Science church official, hurriedly delivered bundles of letters to Senate offices promoting a little-noticed proposal in the legislation requiring insurers to consider covering the church's prayer treatments just as they do other medical expenses.” (story) By the way, most evangelical Christian leaders consider Christian Science like Grape Nuts: neither grape nor nuts….


Fun with Google Suggest


Some good advice on financial planning for retirement from Time magazine, broken into decades: your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, your 50s and your 60s. This link will take you to the start of their advice for your 40s, my decade. Look on the bottom of the web page and you can work backward or forward from there if you don’t share my birthdate….


Desiring God by John Piper is the free audiobook download for November


“For the money it takes to save one life with carbon cuts, smarter [malaria] policies could save 78,000 lives” (WSJ) Is the focus on global warming distracting us from things much more important?


“What it means to live missionally, then, is to have authentic friendship with people in these networks. That’s it. If Jesus is truly important to you, and if you have real friendships with people, then Jesus is going to come up sooner or later in the natural course of sharing life. You shouldn’t have to artificially shoehorn Jesus into every conversation, nor should you feel the need to hide or downplay your affection for him. Those in your oikos will get to know Jesus as they get to know you.” (http://www.cdomaha.com/blog/?p=1711)



Did you see “V”? last Tuesday? “The show's chief cautionary voice is Father Jack, an Anglican priest. He is skeptical of the Vs—indeed, of the existence of aliens. "I don't see any basis for this in Scripture," he tells his elder priest, who has quickly concluded that the aliens are part of God's plan—not because of miracles as much as increased attendance at worship. Surely, he thinks, God is in this. Besides, the Vatican—which the show mistakenly puts at the head of the Anglican Church—has officially endorsed the Visitors as part of God's creation. So Father Jack is initially the lone skeptic, preaching that people should fully explore anything they are tempted to believe in. They must compare claims to what they know is true: Scripture. It's refreshing for a strong Christian character—especially one facing his own existential crisis—to speak for informed, intelligent belief…. Father Jack and other characters form a small band of freedom fighters who meet secretly to dissect false teachings and spread the truth.” (CT)


“You may be surprised at what many prominent women’s groups are protesting as “anti-choice propaganda.” It’s not a new book, or a graphic display; it’s a recent episode of NBC’s Friday night staple, Law & Order. The show, which often rips its story straight from the headlines, recently aired an episode clearly based on the murder of late-term abortion provider George Tiller. The episode, titled “Dignity,” offered sensitive portrayals of pro-life views that result in two characters who originally take the pro-choice side to reconsider their views” (CT Movies).

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